Abstract

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Keywords:: Quine; underdetermination; indeterminacy; inscrutability of reference; fact of the matter

Abstract:: The indeterminacy of translation and underdetermination of theory are two different indeterminatetheses. There are obvious links and differences between them. Two indeterminacies are both based onholism，and they both have different systems that are logically incompatible，but empirically equivalent. Theformer claims that there is not merely one correct translation manual for different translation systems that areempirically equivalent because there is no such meaning as entities and there is no fact of the matter aboutmeaning；the latter claims that two logically incompatible but empirically equivalent theory systems cannot beboth true simultaneously and there is a fact of the matter. If we choose one theory，it means that we will refusethe opposite theory.